New Microsoft ad laughs at Apple for calling the iPad a computer, again

Microsoft is never going to let this one go

In context: For as long as Apple continues to maintain that the iPad is a real computer, Microsoft will release ads mocking that claim. In a new holiday commercial for the Surface Go, the Redmond firm once again takes a shot at its rival’s tablets, suggesting that they’re no match for its Windows-powered machine.

Sung to the tune of ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,’ the little girl in the ad sings: “Grandma, don’t run out and buy an iPad. It was fine when I was six, but now I’m 10. My dreams are a big so I need a real computer.”

Apple, of course, objects to iPads being classed as little more than media consumption devices, especially its new iPad Pro range, which comes with the blistering fast A12X processor and swaps out the lightning port for USB Type-C. In the company’s most recent ad, it promotes the slates’ ability to handle tasks traditionally carried out by laptops and desktops, such as photo/video editing and using it as a music studio.

Microsoft loves to call out Apple over its attempts to get people to believe the iPad is a computer. And because of their limitations and the use of iOS, many people agree with the Windows maker.

Ultimately, this could all be considered a matter of semantics. A phone, smartwatch, and many other devices, including the iPad are essentially computers, but Apple is trying to suggest its tablets are laptop replacements. While the Pro models are getting closer to that definition, they’re not quite there yet—though they certainly have price parity.